Beauty Blog Coalition - Weekly Roundup

Mama Fashionista: Do you know Joey New York? Let Quinn introduce you to her Fab Five Favorites from this cult fave brand!

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Aftelier Perfumes Lavender Face Elixir with Clary Sage and Cistus is an amazing potent anti-aging oil serum that is sure to delight the skin and senses!

TheFabZilla: It's the perfect brick red lipstick. See TheFabZilla's fascination with Givenchy Le Rouge Intense Color Sensuously Matte Lipstick 308 Rouge D' Exception

BeautyTidbits: Still looking for the perfect daily sunscreen for your oily, acne-prone skin? Head over to BeautyTidbits to find an SPF moisturizer that won't leave your oily skin cringing!

Painted Ladies: The Foreo Luna isn't just another Clarisonic knock off. Find out what makes this nifty facial cleanser a skincare must!

My Highest Self: New contributor Miranda reviews Mary Kay Makeup Finishing Spray!

D.G.S.Beauty: D.G.S.Beauty has the perfect compact and travel friendly eyeshadow and blush palette. See what she has to say about the BH Cosmetics San Francisco Palette

A Little Polish: Looking for something to spruce up your stamping manicures? Stephanie shows us how stamping over a sponged base can create a whole new look!

In Her Makeup Bag: Stephanie shows her super simple ombre nails using Sally Hansen Pacific Blue!

Geniabeme: Check out the Couture Gel Nail Kit! It lets you do salon quality nails at home!

Beauty by Miss L: Does Wet n Wild Fergie Turn Up The Volume Mascara really turns up the promised volume & length?

Advice Sisters/Leather and Lace Advice: How you smell makes a powerful statement. Alison of The Advice Sisters and Leather and Lace Advice has Written a "Fragrance How-to"

Icy Nails: Icy Nails shares Ageless Derma Lip Polish is Petal Pink. Beautiful and nourishing, it makes lips pretty and plush.

Beauty Professor: Ever on a foundation hunt, the Beauty Professor weighs in on the NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation with a review and video!

The Dark Side of Beauty : The Dark Side of Beauty finds a drugstore dupe for the YSL Midnight Garden palette in the Revlon eyeshadow palette in 'Muse'.

Pammy Blogs Beauty : Are you ready for Fall Fashion? Pammy Blogs Beauty previews some Fall OOTDs (outfits of the day) with her latest boots from JustFab and some cute tees from Before + Again!

Lipgloss Break: Butter London's Colour Clash line is fierce! Check out my review and swatch of Pimms. Bright yellow just in time for Michigan tailgating!

Saturday Stamping in Pink!

OK so I know Sundays are for stamping but I have been doing it a lot lately so today I will be showing you the mani I actually wore to work yesterday.

Anyways, onto the mani!

Polishes Used:
-OPI - Nail Envy
-OPI - Alpine Snow
-Wet 'n Wild - Through the Grapevine
-OPI - Kiss Me on my Tulips
-Pueen plate - pueen18

I am not sure what this image plate is supposed to be but my mani reminds me of a pretty pink and white damask type design. I actually used the darker pink (Through the Grapevine) which is more purple leaning for the area towards my cuticles with the brighter pink (Kiss me on my Tulips) for the tips. Neither are stamping polishes so both were a little sheerer than some of my stamping polishes but I still think this is a very pretty and fun design. Of course, the camera had a hard time differentiating between the pinks.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried stamping yet? If not, you must try, I'm obsessed with it this week!

KB Shimmer Swatch Spam & Review

Today I will be sharing with you 5 KB Shimmer Polishes; don't forget KB Shimmer is turning 5 this month so keep an eye out for all the fall shades (being released in September) as well as the anniversary polishes and her core line.

Iris My Case:

This shade is described as, "Iris, Lilacs, Violets are some of of the most beloved flowers  come spring, this pastel violet colored polish was inspired by all three.   The soft purple base is filled with glitters in pink, purple, white, periwinkle  and blue. If you are not a fan of large glitters, this polish is for you." I am wearing two coats topped with Out The Door. You can purchase this shade here. 

Totally Tubular:

This shade is described as, "When I think of the 80′s and 90′s, I can not help but think of Valley Girls, Surfers, and the rad lingo that swept the nation.  Totally Tubular is our nod to that era, with is almost teal blue green color, the fuchsia circles in two sizes, aqua circles, and other hex glitters in different colors and sizes.  If you love Don’t Teal Anyone, this shade is similar, but not the same." I really love this shade! I am wearing two coats topped with Out The Door. You can purchase this shade here.

Blinded By The Bright:

This shade is described as, "Break out the sunglasses, Blinded By The Bright is a shocking neon yellow polish make for the summer.  No need to put on any white undies, this polish stands on its own.  A rainbows worth of hex shaped glitter completes this neon polish." This is even brighter in person than in the pictures, and like she says, no need for white undies! I am wearing two coats topped with Out The Door. You can purchase this shade here. 

The Dancing Green:

This shade is described as, "The Dancing Green is a bright green polish with a blue undertone.  This polish features fuchsia square glitters, chartreuse dots,  sapphire hex glitters and fuchsia dots.  A subtle micro shimmer completes this emerald colored polish." I do feel that this shade was more of a yellow undertone than a blue and it looks different in my photos than some of the other swatch photos I have seen. I am wearing two coats topped with Out The Door. You can purchase this shade here. 

Ice Queen:

This shade is described as, "One of the best things about winter, is the beauty that snow and ice can bring.  Ice melting and catching the sun like a prism, fresh snow glimmering, a rainbow  of colors reflecting of each flake. If I were the queen of this frozen land, I  can imagine this would be my signature color. Holographic glitters float in an  almost clear polish, slightly silver blue in color. We start with micro fine  glitter, move to several hex glitters and finish with scattering of large  diamond glitter." I am wearing one coat of Ice Queen over OPI My Vampire Is Buff. You can purchase this shade here. 

There you have it! Out of all the shades that I have shown you today, which is your favorite?

Make sure to check out KB Shimmer at the following locations:
-WEBSITE
-FACEBOOK
-INTERNATIONAL (Harlow & Co)

Press Release: Tawdry Terrier - Autumn in the Barkshires Collection

To see an online version of this press release, please click here.

Tawdry Terrier offers custom blended polish, using a 5-free formula containing cosmetic-grade mica and glitters.  All polishes are limited edition.

The Autumn in the Barkshires collection will be available September 1 at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TawdryTerrier.  The collection features three glass fleck polishes with glitter and four glass fleck shimmer polishes inspired by the beautiful fall colors of the Northeast.  These polishes are perfect to wear during the cool autumn days.

Howling at the Moon is a midnight blue glass fleck polish with blue, silver, and holographic shimmer inspired by a cool autumn night's starry sky.

Playing in the Leaf Pile is an orange glass fleck polish with purple, red, orange, brown, gold, and green glitter inspired by the fun of jumping in a multi-colored pile of autumn leaves. 

Pawsome Pines is a pine green glass fleck polish with heavy blue and green shimmer inspired by a moonlit stroll through the pine trees.

Hahvahd Hound is a crimson metallic glass fleck polish with a mix of red, orange, and golden yellow glitter inspired by the color of autumn leaves in the Harvard Yard.

Sassy Squirrel a molten copper glass fleck polish with gold, copper, and red shimmer inspired by the sassy squirrels that love to tease our tawdry terriers from the trees.

Poke-a-Nose Purple is a plum glass fleck polish with purple, red violet, red, and orange glitter inspired by the beautiful fall colors you find in the Poconos. 

Harvest Moon Possum Hunt is a chocolate brown glass fleck polish with gold, red, and holographic shimmer inspired by the color of the woods, as seen under a warm harvest moon.  It is an exclusive bonus polish, which will be included when customers purchase the entire Autumn in the Barkshires collection.

We will also be holding a giveaway of our polishes from our Autumn in the Barkshires collection.  The giveaway will be announced September 1 on our blog and Facebook page.

All of our polishes are sold at our Etsy shop.  We run a blog, and you can also find us on  Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus.

What I Wore - Tough Mudder Edition

Happy Wednesday! Unfortunately every time it is Wednesday, I think of that stupid commercial with the camel saying "what day is it, what day is it?" "It's humpday".

If you haven't see the commercial; there it is. LOL, it's annoying.

Anyway, over the weekend my husband and a couple of his friends participated in the Pittsburgh Tough Mudder competition. If you are not familiar with Tough Mudder, you can check it out here, it's "probably the toughest event on the plant". This is just a brief tid-bit from their site, "Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, 1,000,000 inspiring participants worldwide to date, and more than $5 million raised for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world." You have to love a seriously hard core obstacle course that supports a great cause like the Wounded Warrier Project, which you can check out here.

Onto, the mani. Since the colors of Tough Mudder and black and orange, that is what I used for my mani.

Polishes Used:
-OPI - Nail Envy
-Zoya - Paz
-Konad - Black
-Konad - White
-Out The Door
-Plate - Mash38

I tried to give the nails a ripped / distressed look with the black stamping (although it did turn out to look slightly tiger-ish) I also added the white stamped accent from the same plate since it sort of reminded me of an EKG/Heartbeat symbol. I got a lot of compliments from the other "spectators" at the event. 

One thing to note about spectating that they don't really warn you about. It is extreme; you get muddy, you walk a ton, you get sunburnt, and the event takes 4-5 hours to complete. I don't know that all courses would be as bad as ours, the fact that is is very hilly in the area led to an extra challenging course, anyone who has ever run a race in Pittsburgh can attest to that! 

Here is a "live" shot of my nails on the course (and maybe one of the first appearances of my pinky, it's wonky, they both are, just don't look lol):

Anyway, hope you liked this mani and great job to my husband's team and all the guys and gals who participated in the 2013 Pittsburgh Tough Mudder.

Crumpet's Nail Tarts: Tri-Polish Challenge

Today I will be sharing my 3rd installment of the August Tri-Polish Challenge with you. If you have been following the first two manis of the month, you know I am not a fan of the color combo. HOWEVER, I love the look I did today!

I sponged the red, yellow and green over a white base, and topped it with black stamping from Plate Mash-39. I accidentally made my middle nail an accent nail by stamping upside down, but it doesn't bother me too much and I bet some of you hadn't even noticed. After this mani I am feeling much more enthused to create my final mani on Thursday. 

Don't forget to check out the manis that the other lovely Nail Tarts did for their 3rd mani!

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents - Around The World - Week 4

Happy Monday! Today I am back with my 4th and final Around the World mani, and I decided to do some free-hand acrylic nail art. I am not very good with my free-hand, and feel like everything looks like a child painted it, like a preschooler, but anyway, I jumped in and tried it anyway.

For this week's inspiration, I used my recent trip to Belgium (which was actually my first time in Europe as well!)

So yeah, not the best with the details but not horrible either I don't think? Practice makes perfect. Anyway, I threw in the last picture collage to explain what the pictures were/represented, but I will explain it here as well. Belgium is know for its world class Chocolate, and it's Beer; I tried a LOT of both during the short time I was there; both were delicious -> those represent my pointer and pinky finger, respectively. My middle finger is showcasing all of the old buildings that I saw when I was there. I was amazing how many old builds from like the 1300 / 1400's were still standing and in use! It's amazing considering the "Old" buildings in the US are from like the 1700's. Finally, I did a gradient with the colors of the Belgian flag on my ring finger.

What do you think? Do you understand my inspirations? And on another topic, have you worked with acrylic paints? If so, do you have any tips?